Hey y’all. I can’t believe I’m moving in less than three weeks! 🤯 Because I’m closing up shop for the move, all ebooks are 25% off through the end of August. Reminder that I don’t know when/if I will be able to reopen, so grab your copies now if you prefer to buy direct.
TL;DR
Draft one of current project is complete
I should accept the fact I need to write longer books
Don’t expect a newsletter in September
Writing updates on the current WIP
Yes, it finally happened: draft one of my current project is finally complete!
I wanted to wait to do my initial read-through until after the move, but I got impatient and did it last week. I’m really glad I did because it helped me realize I wrote the second half of a novel.
Wait, wait, wait — I can explain.
Like I mentioned in my last newsletter, this was supposed to be a novella. Well, as stories are wont to do, an incredible backstory developed as I wrote. So, instead of ending up with the quick burn rock star dad’s best friend novella I set out to write (like, literally, Aurora — a novella with those tropes??), I ended up with a short novel. I wrote it in a different style, which lent to it being much, much longer than expected. And then the choice of tropes obviously screams for a longer work, but I started it right in the middle of the main romance action for a shorter work, so… I’ve ended up with the second half of a book at 50k words.
To distract myself from the stress of moving, I’ve thrown myself into reading a couple of craft books in hopes those will help with editing. If there’s anything you should know about me as a writer, it’s that I hate craft books more than anything. Nothing kills my creativity like forcing myself to plan/outline according to beats, use a plotting system of some sort, etc. I really want to improve my editing skills (I’ve never thought I was a decent editor, even as a professional), so I picked up a couple of craft books I’ve had my eye on for a while now, and thankfully, the books I picked aren’t stifling my creativity for once and I’m finding them to be incredibly helpful. I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas for developmental edits of this current project!
For now, as I’m focused on packing up my entire life once more and move across the country yet again, I’m reading more about editing, jotting down notes for edits, and brainstorming for draft two.
I’ve had some realizations as I’ve struggled writing a story to completion
As y’all know, I’ve had the worst time finding my footing after releasing Anything for the Devil: The Final Deal back in February of 2024.
It wasn’t until April of this year that I was finally able to get invested enough in a story to see it through — my current project. Even still, it’s taken me about five months to write 50k words, and now I need to go back and probably write 50k more.
I’ve been desperate to write something short. Anything short. I had one success with Southern Discomfort, but it kept trying to grow and grow as I wrote it. It seems every story I’ve tried to work on as a short or novella has grown far beyond that, which has made me abandon it because omfg I just want to write a quick story wtaf???
After so many fails this past year — and now realizing with the past few projects I don’t hate the fact they are going to be a longer — I think I need to face the music.
I should write longer books.
Have I told y’all the books I wrote before Claiming the Witch Father were over 75-100k+ words? Yeah. I don’t know why I keep trying to force this.
I know many of you are rejoicing, but I am not. I am annoyed. Personally, I love shorter works. Reading one doesn’t make me want to put my entire life aside to finish and subsequently ruin my day or week (yay hyper focus). They get straight to the point with very little fluff. Writing short is fantastic too and lightens the editorial load.
Deep down, though, I’m a novelist at heart. I’ve always called myself a novelist over anything else. So I guess I should stop fighting myself on it. I’m not the amateur I was when I wrote my first two novels, in which I wrote a lot about nothing; I’ve improved so much since then and now know how to make each word count, for the most part. I still have my paragraphs lol.
I have to be honest though: writing isn’t my job. And I don’t want it to be my job – I have a great job in real life that reliably pays my bills and into my retirement (and lets me take off whenever I have a migraine!). I want writing to be what it’s always been to me: an escape. A way for me to figure out the world. A fun, delightful affair that provides relief from the drag and horrors of everyday life. Because of that, I’m not going to have a release every few months; I’m not going to be on social media working Booktok or Bookstagram like my livelihood depends on it, because it doesn’t.
There’s a quote from Elizabeth Gilbert that has stuck with me:
“… I never wanted to burden my writing with the responsibility of paying for my life. I knew better than to ask this of my writing, because over the years, I have watched so many other people murder their creativity by demanding that their art pay the bills.”
—Elizabeth Gilbert
I did this once: I took a semester off during college to try being a full-time writer while working retail part time. Guess what never worked and who went back to school the following semester?
All that to say: because writing isn’t my job, because it’s something I do for fun, the reality is that releases are going to be farther between for me. The second writing feels like work is the second I start avoiding it. Writing has felt like a job since I started publishing indie, and I didn’t really want to do it anymore but felt like I had to to stay relevant.
I took a hard look at my author self this year as I’ve struggled to do much of anything. Did that thing all the experts say to do and got back to my “why” — just to realize that I’m trying to make a square peg fit into a round hole.
I’m done trying to force my writing to be something I never wanted it to be.
I know I would write more quickly too if I didn’t focus so much on the external world, keeping an eye on the news, planning and gathering resources for what’s to come for us in the US. Because I’ll level with y’all: I’m scared. I’ve been scared, not just for the US, but for the world. I’ve been trying to figure out what to do as more and more shit keeps hitting the fan to the point that writing fiction just isn’t as important as making sure my family has food, safety, and resources for whatever may go down.
So, some days I’m able to write more; many days, I’m not able to write anything. But here’s to being closer to our support system to ease the anxiety, and hopefully it won’t take me another five months to finish draft two 🍻
What I’m into lately
All I’ve been doing is rereading favorites, so I won’t bother listing those, but here are the craft books I’m reading:
And although Amorphis has released another song or two, one of my all-time favorite bands My Ticket Home dropping three songs is WAY more important.
Also, the new Lorna Shore and AFI singles fuck hard.
I don’t expect to send a newsletter in September, so I’ll see y’all in October.
Stay fucked, abominations.
You're amazing and awesome!!!
I am going to get better and more focused. Almost finished with the newsletter (reading at a slower pace these days) but that’s what I’m here for. To post when you can’t if you’d ever want me to in the future!! Booktok and bookgram can be draining, you don’t need that. Like you said writing isn’t your job and I have massive respect for you by saying that. Okay I’ll finish but I want you to know I am proud of you!! I can’t wait for this next read of yours and to own in all ways.